Was it the La-Z-Boy ad—the new “Long Live the Lazy” one—or was it the eighth straight commercial for various food delivery companies that pushed me over the edge. Maybe it was the new study finding that alcohol consumption was bad for our health. Remind me, which other addictive drugs are actually good for us?
That tipping point was the realization that we are too often being urged to pass the buck, choose a scapegoat, or fail to take responsibility for many of our health decisions and outcomes.
Before continuing, let me say I understand that bad stuff, beyond our control, happens in life and in health, and such situations are not wished on anyone.
This column was originally intended to be a quasi-rant bemoaning the fact that many of us are not taking responsibility for our health. That was until, contrary to the gloom-and-doom I expected, my research found that in a few categories, slowly but steadily, Canadians are adapting some diet and lifestyle choices designed to improve wellness.
Fortunately for most Canadians, diet is a controllable health choice. Here’s how we’re responding at this time.
The risk that consuming large amounts of red meat poses to human health is no longer in question.
A 30-year study including more than 150,000 participants, released in 2012, found that more than one portion of unprocessed red meat per day increased all-cause mortality, including cancer and cardiovascular disease, by 13 percent. More than one serving of processed red meat such as sausage or bacon raised mortality by 20 percent. Researchers concluded that substituting one portion of red meat per day with fish, poultry, legumes, fruit, or whole grains would reduce mortality risk by seven to 19 percent.
Statistics Canada data shows Canadians have responded by reducing their daily red meat consumption by 18 percent, from 75 grams to 61 grams, between 2004 and 2015, although proportionately the amount of processed red meat we consume has increased. Chicken consumption, a meat with less saturated fat when served skinless, has correspondingly increased by more than 23 percent during the same period, and only two percent of that was processed.
Dairy products are less straightforward, and Canadians’ response seems to be skewed to today’s science. Dairy provides essentials such as calcium and protein, and many products are fortified with vitamin D. Fermented products like yogurt and cheese are generally agreed to be healthy, yet milk, especially high fat and sugar versions, is less so.
Canadians have responded by reducing milk consumption from 70 litres annually in 2015 to 58 litres in 2022, and switched to varieties with two percent or less butterfat half the time. Sales of oat milk, part of the surging plant-based dairy replacement trend, quadrupled between 2019 and 2023.
We’re headed in the wrong direction with fruits and vegetables though. The data is current, and concludes before 2024 when food price increases may have played a role. In 2015, 31 percent of Canadians ate five or more servings of fruit and vegetables per day (Health Canada’s minimum recommendation), but by 2023 that had fallen by almost a third to 21 percent. Specific numbers aren’t available for those of us fortunate enough to live in Niagara, but we may fare better than average.
When we combine lifestyle choices and diet, I believe a barrage of marketing has us headed in the wrong direction. It’s a busy world: careers, kids, pets, me-time, community service and all the things we shoehorn into each 24 hours limit our research time into all the things that might impact our health.
Demand for minimally processed food in grocery stores is no longer increasing, and as consumers we’re demanding healthier choices, including plant-based options. The 2,300,000 vegetarians and 850,000 vegans now estimated to live in Canada are driving this reversal
Ultra-processed food consumption in Canada now provides 48 percent of our caloric intake
Prepared, processed, and ultra-processed foods may have their place, but the following is simply scary. Recent research commissioned by the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada found that ultra-processed food consumption in Canada, including fast-food, sugary drinks, snacks, sauces and sweetened milk and cereals, now provides 48 percent of our caloric intake.
It’s delivered meals and meals eaten away from home that we need to watch, and our attraction to these is growing steadily. A decade-old policy statement from the Canadian Medical Association noted that in 2015, in the United States, “It is estimated that the percentage of food spending that goes for foods prepared away from home went up from 24 percent in 1966 to 42 percent in 2006.” They were making the point, via an American study, that “environmental circumstances” were contributing to poor diet amongst Canadians.
A more recent Canada Food Study based on five large Canadian cities found that 39 percent of us had at least one meal per day prepared outside the home, and 83 percent had at least one meal per week prepared outside our home.
Combining diet, environment and lifestyle choices, the same CMA policy statement said obesity is of particular concern to Canada’s physicians because it increases a person’s risk of developing everything from high blood pressure to musculoskeletal disorders with cancer and heart disease in between. The full list isn’t pretty.
They continued, “The conventional wisdom about addressing obesity is that it is the individual’s responsibility to lose weight through diet and exercise, and to keep it off. However, achieving and maintaining a healthy weight is a complex process.”
That may be true, but when in 2023 Statistics Canada placed the number of obese Canadians at 9 million, and the number of us, me included, who are merely overweight at 11 million – complex or not, we’ve got a problem.
Increasingly sedentary lifestyle choices and options are debilitating us. In 2022, ParticipACTION, the Canadian non-profit, asserted that less than half of Canadians were getting the 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous exercise per week that Canada’s guidelines say is the minimum. A 2022 World Health Organization study found that 37 percent of Canadians aged 18-plus were inactive, up from 31 percent in 2010 and 25 percent in 2000. A switch to more sedentary tech-based work, screen-based leisure trends, less safe public and active transportation options, etc., all wore the blame.
Covid has made it difficult to judge trends in health and fitness club participation in Canada. Between 2019 and 2023 membership spending declined by three percent per year, but in 2024 grew by five percent; perhaps a good sign that we’re catching on.
It’s clear we’re headed in the right direction is some areas, so no rant required. Yet, there is still much room for us to take more responsibility for our own health in the choices we make. We’ve nothing to lose by trying, and lots to lose by not.
